


Espresso Beans

by sleepywax



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU - Coffee Shop, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Amazingphil - Freeform, Coffee Shop, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Smut possibly later on, Strangers to Lovers, danisnotonfire - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-19 17:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4755248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepywax/pseuds/sleepywax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coffee Shop AU:</p>
<p>Phil has been looking for a job and comes to find the local coffee shop is hiring! While getting his morning coffee, he meets a barista who almost seems to be born with an gift for making coffee and can't help himself for getting weak at the knees for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Job Hunting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!  
> This is one of the first fan fictions I've written in YEARS and I'm pretty excited and I reallllyyy hope you are too  
> My tumblr and twitter is heylistenlink, if you're interested in following me there or wanna talk!
> 
> Hopefully, Im not totally taking this idea from someone else (I don't think I've actually read a coffee shop AU ever so.. I don't really know much about them heh)
> 
> More chapters and updates to come soon  
> Please enjoy!!

Phil groaned loudly at the laptop screen positioned on his lap, pushing back his hair and pulling at the skin on his face slightly. He’d been applying and searching for jobs by for hours. Being in this position on the couch so long surely would leave an imprint, he thought. Every place he’s applied hasn’t even bothered to call him and reject him properly, instead leaving Phil to just assume they’re not interested.

  
In his 24 years of life, he’s done a good amount of volunteering and did rather well in school and hasn’t done anything that would discourage employers. This thought seemed to make Phil’s already wrinkled forehead even more so.  
He first applied to places a tad over his head. After their rejection, he decided on something that was more his level. And then when that failed, he applied to places that don’t even ask for a diploma. And at this point, he just wants a decent paycheck and something to do with his time. He’s felt beyond lonely and beyond bored for months now, and figures getting a job would be the best thing for him. He’s been alone with himself for too long.

  
Submitting his final application of the night, he closed his laptop he breathed out of his nose sharply. He pushed his laptop onto the floor and flopping over on his side, begging his eyes to stay shut. Not even bothering to make the walk to his bedroom, his eyebrows began to relax and unfurrow. The stress began to blur into the back of his mind as he drifted into a light sleep.

The early morning light beamed through the curtains, only to meet the face of a stressed, sleeping boy. Phil groaned, as if to tell it to leave him alone, and rolled over. Only to fall straight onto the floor with a thud. Jolted, he realized he wasn’t in his bed and quickly remembers last night. He sits up, still on the floor and quickly opens his laptop. Flinching at the sudden bright screen, he eagerly checks his emails. Disappointed but not surprised to find no new mail.

  
He makes his way into his kitchen with a huff and pulls out his box of cereal from the cabinet and pours it in a bowl, along with milk and sits down at the table. His flat is quiet, he notices; the only noise is from the neighbors upstairs.  
He can hear the small tips and taps of feet moving around. Phil proposes that they are getting ready for work, or maybe school. Maybe they’re a really important businessperson, or maybe an artist, or an astronaut! Phil laughs quietly to himself. He’s never actually met the people in the flat above his, only occasionally hearing them softly talking and Phil, in turn, making up a possible conversation in his head.

  
Phil plops his empty bowl into his sink for later and stands in his quiet kitchen. He decides on leaving for town, maybe for coffee or light shopping or something, anything if he was being honest.

  
He grabs clean clothes and puts his phone in his back pocket before he slips out of his flat, down the stairs and into the breezy, gray streets. The walk to the local shops wasn’t too far, but it was long enough for Phil to daydream.

  
The subtle smell of coffee fills his nose and realizes he’s arrived. He opens up the door to a locally owned coffee shop. He really doesn’t drink coffee often, but he prefers this shop to anywhere else. He’s not sure if it’s the specifically rich taste of the coffees, or the quiet hum of the people and workers or if because the interior of the small shop was so homelike and comforting it could engulf you for hours. He decides on a mixture of them all.

  
Approaching the counter, he smiles at the cashier and parts his lips to begin his order, but something catches his eye and he stopped. _Help Wanted_ , a bold sign read.

Phil’s eyes widen, “You’re hiring?” The man behind the counter follows Phil’s line of sight to the bold sign.

  
“Oh, yes,” He states, looking back at Phil, “Do you want an application?”

  
Phil eagerly nods and takes the papers from the man, hurrying to a table. He is able to quickly fill out all the information, having done it a million times in the past month. Phil begins to think about what it would like to work here, to come home smell of coffee beans and to joke quietly with co workers and to learn how to make coffees. There are not too many people working behind the counters, he notices, which widens his grin. He might have a chance. 

 

Before he notices, the papers are flawlessly filled and the morning has nearly passed. He pushes himself up and turns around to the counter.

  
Phil’s eyes widen as he notices the man that gave him the papers was no longer there, and was replaced with a different boy, a much younger boy around his age. Phil can feel the small amount of pink appearing on his cheeks, as he notices the adorableness of said boy. Hair a little similar to his, but much more chocolate brown, or maybe coffee brown, Phil concludes, laughing internally at himself. He’s pretty thin and maybe a little more taller than himself and wow what a jawline and- Phil stops before he’s just staring and looks weird. Phil doesn’t typically get too nervous around people, but god, he goes weak for attractive boys.

  
Phil’s known for a while that he wasn’t exactly straight for a long time. After dating girls, although truly caring about them, he never found himself completely happy. It took him years to really discover himself, and he feels so happy that he’s discovered himself at a young age instead of in his late 40’s or something.

  
The boy at the counter turned his head from a coworker to look at Phil, who was now approaching the counter.  
“Um..” Phil mumbles, and holds out the papers to the boy. The brown haired boy eyes the papers, raising an eyebrow before taking them.

  
“Awesome,” he says, with a smile now appearing, “we’ve been rather short recently. I’ll hand this to my manager right away. Is there anything else you need?” Phil hasn’t even realized he hasn’t gotten his morning coffee, even though he could still feel his eyes drooping.

  
“Can I get a um...” Phil skims the menu on the wall rather quickly and looks back at the boy, “large mocha latte with whole milk?” The boy nods and gives Phil the price.  
Phil pays and the brown haired boy quickly turns away. Phil’s eyes follow the brown blur as he begins the coffee. He’s intrigued. The way the boy makes the espresso is almost, magical. He’s graceful in his movements and he makes it flawlessly and quickly. Phil watches as the milk foams and is then quickly poured into the espresso. A lid is added and the boy returns. Handing the coffee over to him, Phil glances at the small nametag.

  
_Dan_ , he reads.

  
He smiles at the boy and gives a small thank you before leaving the shop with a small blush. Taking small sips of the warm drink, he couldn’t even remember feeling stressed just hours ago.  
Phil hopes to god he gets hired soon.


	2. Chapter 2

It was about a week before Phil’s phone to start buzzing loudly next to his sleepy head. The light illuminating through his thin curtains and the small creaks in his back were enough to wake anyone up. He rolled over with a small groan, his black strands sticking to his face and to his pillows. The warmth of his bed felt like a real privilege recently. Considering over the months, his sleeping patterns have just become falling asleep anywhere he’s sitting. Places including his hardwood floors and sitting upright in his kitchen chairs, waking up with the imprint of a spoon on his cheek the next morning. Anywhere it was, it almost always was in positions that leave his body sore the next day.

Leaning up on his elbows, he mindlessly slides to accept the unknown number.

“Hello?” He tries to make his voice less caked in sleep, succeeding only a little.

“Good morning, is this… Mr. Lester?” The warm voice questions him plainly.

Rubbing his tired eyes, Phil nods even though they can’t see him.

“Speaking,”

“This is Ayden from _The Capp_ , I’ve read over your application and I’m calling to see if you’re interested in coming in for an interview?”

Recognizing the name of the small coffee shop, in the span of a second, Phil’s tired face lit up the fairly dim room, “Of course!”

“Are you free this afternoon then? Say around three?” Phil honestly couldn’t believe this conversation was happening.

“I’ll be there!”

“Sounds great, see you then Mr. Lester”

“See you then”

The phone call ended, but the smile on Phil’s face only got wider. Any sleepiness in his eyes vanished as he jumped to his feet and rushed to get ready. Stripping himself of his clothes and littering them in a manner that left a trail from his room to his bathroom. Hopping out of the shower, the smile on his face still remained the same size.

Phil thought about becoming as good as a barista as ….Dan? Dan, He concludes. He’s reminded of the brown haired boy’s effortless, fluid movements. Phil was left inspired, and wanted nothing but to return and just watch this Dan make drinks. He wanted to be able to witness this magic all for himself, for hours. The thought made Phil’s stomach stir.

Phil thought about if he would even be good at serving. He’s never really had a job in food service before, or any job where he’s serving people directly. The closest he’s gotten to even making nice coffees is at his own flat. Even still, he manages to spill the sugar all over the counter every single time. Considering his countless acts of clumsiness outside of coffee, Phil would surely break a pot or two. Only hoping that he doesn’t hurt someone else because of his absolute butterfingers. Shaking these thoughts, Phil continued to get dressed for his interview. Casual, but put together. Smile still firmly stretched on his face, he makes his way to town.

-*-

“Well, Phil,” Ayden says, lacing his strong hands on the table between them. Ayden had been interviewing Phil for hours, talking of his work ethic, his training, and then the nitty-gritty of paperwork. Ayden is a much older man than Phil; nearing his fifty’s at least. His personality was still of a teenager, Phil quickly discovered. Phil had even nearly had forgotten that this was an interview, due to Ayden’s friendly disposition. The table between them was littered with business documents for Phil to fill out along with their half empty cups of coffee surely were lukewarm now. He could tell he was nearing the end of his interview. Phil thought he did a rather well job, and Ayden seemed to be more than interested in hiring him. They even had a convincing debate about the way they personally enjoy their coffee, Phil thinks Ayden had won that one. By the time they were wrapping up, the streets were starting to get darker, streetlights taking over the job of illuminating the concrete.

“I want to thank you for your time and I’ll get back to you soon” Ayden smiles as he pushes his chair back and stands, reaching to shake Phil’s hand. Phil quickly shakes it and gives a quick goodbye to the older man, as he walks behind the counter and into the back room. Phil gathers up his papers and throws away the remainder of his coffee, brushing his hands off quickly over the trash. He turns to make his way out of the door but-

“Oh!” Comes a voice in surprise, Phil had jumped back a little and found his hand on his rapidly beating heart. Jeez, Phil thinks, I nearly had a heart attack.

A small laugh follows, “Hey there uh… application guy, right?”

Phil cringes internally at the nickname. Meeting his eyes, Dan’s giving an awkward but somehow genuine smile. Phil notices no longer in the uniform that he met him in. Instead, Dan has his apron and visor in between his forearm and his stomach. Phil preferred his hair this way; Phil could see where the styled brown hair laid naturally on Dan’s features.

He had to be either coming or going from work. Due to the lack of sunlight beyond the great windows, Phil decides on the latter.

“Phil, but yeah,” Phil spoke.

“Dan” He shifted his possessions to the opposite arm and held out his hand. Phil happily shook it, noting how surprisingly soft his fingertips were against his, before withdrawing.

A small silence grew between them.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later Application Guy” Dan laughed lightly; making sure that Phil understood it as a joke and not something harsh. Waving a small goodbye in Phil’s direction before turning out the door and vanishing quickly.

Phil had a sneaking suspicion that name was going to stick.

As the morning light of the next day gleamed through the curtains, Phil didn’t expect much of the day, which felt amazing. Having a day to himself, where there was not long applications or a speck of “Please describe yourself in only one sentence”, Phil felt a weight lift off his shoulders, and a small ping of hope in his stomach. He decided to celebrate by sleeping in till noon. Snuggling back into his pillows, he listens to the neighbors in the flat above. Getting ready for their day, talking quietly amongst themselves and quietly tipping around while Phil dazed back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be out way, way earlier but I ended up working a 13 hour shift and didn't feel up to editing it too much...  
> Long story short, sorry this chapters kinda.... hm. 
> 
> Anyways! I promise to have much more Dan and Phil interactions in the next few chapters! ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so SO SO sorry this took way too long to upload. It was already written but I was going to add a lot more but Im going to save it for the next chapter. Thats why this chapters kinda short, sorry my loves
> 
> Work has been seriously kicking my butt lately BUT the next part should not be out too long from now c:
> 
> Tumblr: HeyListenLink

Phil had really forgotten about his social life the past month. He would text a few friends every so often, but really no real conversations. Phil would either be too busy with applications to give lengthy replies or he would end up falling a sleep, leaving the conversation to die. It wasn’t until today that he had a long, uninterrupted conversation with Chris. They decided on catching up at Phil’s apartment, and even invited PJ along.

 

Now, lounging comfortably on Phil’s floor, the trio had begun to catch up. Each of them making jokes and laughing together, it felt like nothing had even changed. They had pillows and a large comforter layering the floor the television playing quietly and unnoticed in the background of their conversation.

 

“-So that’s when I took the chicken back to the restaurant and the waitress! She was mortified when this other man came rushing back in and-“ Chris had gone on about this story for ages. Phil could tell that Peej was just as lost as himself, but both tried their hardest to keep up interest.

“-And boy, when the eyeball rolled onto this old bags plate, HA! You should’ve seen the look just on the _husbands_ face-“

Phil glanced down at his phone, short enough to not look rude, but long enough to see the time. They ordered a pizza about a half an hour ago and it should be coming any minute now.

“Chris” Phil interrupted,

“-But this bald lad just got up and- Huh?” You could see the focus change in Chris’ face.

“Shouldn’t we clean and get ready for food?”

“Yes!” PJ had happily chimed in, leaping up and moving into the kitchen

“Alright, but hurry it so I can finish-“

“No!” Phil and PJ both blurted at the now frowning Chris still lay on the floor.

“If I listen to another word of your story I honestly might explode, no offence.” PJ pats Chris’ side lightly.

They made their way into Phil’s kitchen. Making room for the pizzas to go on the counter and pouring drinks for themselves.

 

There was a knock on Phil’s front door and he happily ran over and swung it open. He exchanged the money with the delivery boy, tipping generously and smiling before taking the pizzas and shutting his door lightly.

Just before returning to his kitchen, he hears Chris chatting eagerly, along with PJ’s protests. A small smile blooms on Phil’s face, standing there for a second.

Just a few weeks ago, that same kitchen had been painfully quiet. It was now bubbling with chatter and laughter. He hoped that it would be like this more often, now that they’ve begun to hang out together again.

 

Phil’s fingers started to overheat from the fresh pizza and he hurried to plop them down onto the counter, signaling his two friends to crowd around Phil’s shoulders, plates in their hands and smiles across all three faces. 

 

“So what job did you end up going with” PJ asks in between bites, bits of food still muffling his words.

Phil covered his mouth briefly before replying.

“The only place that actually called me back” Phil laughed, a bite of pizza still in his mouth. He swallowed and continued. “The little coffee shop downtown but I actually am pretty excited to work there”

“So free coffee for your pals?” Chris jokingly elbows Phil’s side and wiggles is eyebrows at him.

“Yeah, right!” Phil laughs at him,

“Soooo,” PJ draws out, getting the attention of Phil and Chris, who were still giggling at each other.

“When do you start?” PJ asked, biting into a second slice of pizza.

“Soon,” Mumbles Phil, mid chew, “In a few days, I think”

PJ acknowledged and nodded.

 

They continue their laughter and mindless chatter into the night. Its nearly morning by the time it begins to die down into small, thoughtless remarks, laced with exhaustion. They lied on the sea of blankets and pillows that seemed to grow on Phil’s floor. By the next hour, Chris had fallen asleep. His face mushed into the pillow and a soft snore came from his direction.

PJ and Phil were having a small conversation, with the most inside of inside voices, making sure not to wake Chris. The late hour of the night seemed to haze their thoughts. Half of what they were murmuring at each other was nonsense, bringing miniscule giggles to their lips.

“You know how I haven’t really dated anyone in a long time?” Phil asked, PJs eyebrows furrowing at the out of the blue question.

“Yeah” PJ looks down in thought. “I don’t think you’ve dated anyone since you came out” PJ’s eyebrows somehow managed to become even more knitted together “Phil you haven’t even been interested in anyone before you came out to me and Chris”

“I know, it’s been forever”

“Forever is an understatement” PJ’s eyebrows finally relaxed, laughing lightly.

“I bring it up ‘cause there’s a lad working at the coffee shop, Peej, and he is well fit” Phil said under a sigh, lying on his back.

PJ scoffed and laughed, “Are you talking about yourself, Phil?”

Phil leaned up and playfully pushed PJ, only encouraging his laughter.

“PJ, I’m serious. He’s like unbelievably amazing at making coffee too, oh my god”

“Pretty confident in yourself already, huh?” PJ continues his joke, that he thought was so funny. Phil didn’t.

Phil was slightly annoyed. The one time he’s trying to be serious with PJ and for once in his life, PJ wasn’t being serious. Of all times, Phil thinks to himself.

“Right, remind me to punch you in the morning”

“It is the morning, though”

Phil slowly moved his fist closer to PJ’s untroubled, smirking face. Approaching his face, he lightly “booped” the other lads nose, a silent giggle erupting from both of them.

They mumbled themselves into a much-needed sleep.


End file.
